TMRS Payroll Training

Payroll 101
Presented by
Debbie Muñoz, Member Services Director
Sean Thompson, Regional Representative
Payroll 101
 Summary of Payroll Audit
 Payroll Details
 Definitions
 Examples
 Other Issues
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2012 Payroll Audit
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Testing Reliability of Information
 Periodic examination of city payroll and
contribution records is necessary to ensure
cities are compliant with the statutory
requirements related to employee and city
contributions.
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Reliability of Information, cont.
 The Risk-based Audit Plan adopted by the Board
of Trustees in 2011 called for an internal audit
of the processing of payrolls and city
contributions
 The authority to
examine these records
was delegated to the
TMRS Director of
Internal Audit
 10 cities were
randomly selected
to participate
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Key Audit Findings
 Controls over the receipt and processing of
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
city payroll reports and contribution
payments are strong
No evidence of inappropriate contributions
and no evidence of non-payment of
contributions was noted
The timely submission of the payroll report
and contributions could be improved
Reported earnings and contributions were
found to be reliable
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Key Audit Findings, cont.
 A formal program for the periodic testing of
payroll information being reported by the
cities is recommended
 Key provisions of the TMRS Act related to
compensation and membership eligibility
haven’t always been well understood by cities
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
Treatment of probationary employees
Enrollment of part-time employees
Definition of compensation as it relates to TMRS
Treatment of worker’s compensation
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Responding to the Findings
 Future periodic testing of payroll information
 Increased communication and educational
efforts
 Increased effort to transition to electronic
payroll submission
 Increased effort to streamline the payroll
reporting process and potentially increase the
fees associated with late payroll submission
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Reporting Payroll Electronically
 TMRS encourages all cities to file their
monthly payroll electronically instead of by
mail. See the TMRS Electronic Payroll Guide
in the payroll packet for details:
 Electronic data submitted to TMRS via a
secure FTP website or the City Portal
 Payments submitted to TMRS via ACH
payments
For help filling out forms, view the Payroll Forms tutorial
on the TMRS website under Training
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Payroll Details
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Statutory Requirements
 The TMRS statute requires cities to deduct
member contributions from the gross compensation of each TMRS-eligible employee.
 Your city must:
 Determine each employee’s eligibility for TMRS
membership
 Make deductions from each member’s
compensation
 Transmit a certified copy of the payroll report
and pay the deductions on a monthly basis by
the 15th day of the month following the period
for which the deductions were made
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TMRS Definition of Employee
 The TMRS Act defines “employee” as:
 “…a person, including a person serving a period
of probationary employment, who receives
compensation from and is certified by a
municipality as being regularly engaged in the
performance of duties of: …an appointive office
or position that normally requires services from
the person for not less than 1,000 hours a year,
or [certain elective offices]” emphasis added
This is often referred to as “The 1,000 Hour Rule”
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Determining Member Eligibility
 The TMRS statute states that a person
who is not a member becomes a
member of TMRS if “…after August
31,1987, the person becomes an
employee of a participating
department”
 Accordingly, people who meet the
TMRS definition of “employee”
become members of TMRS on the date
they are employed
 Section 852.101 of the TMRS Act
describes other general membership
requirements
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Are Part-time Employees Eligible?
 There are no statutory definitions for “full-time” or
“part-time” employees
 Eligibility for membership is solely
based on the number of hours a
person is expected to work over
the course of one year
 Cities should evaluate all paid
positions to determine if they
meet the “1,000 hour rule”
 The determination should be made
based on the position and not the
person
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Applying the “1,000 Hour Rule”
 If the position meets the 1,000 hour rule, any
person hired to fill that position MUST be
enrolled in TMRS
 Employees hired to fill these positions do not
have the option to decline participation
 Cities should monitor or re-evaluate these
positions periodically to determine if the
1,000 hour rule is being met
 It is the city’s responsibility to keep current,
accurate records of TMRS-eligible employees
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Eligibility Example
Q. The city budgets 1,600 hours for two part-time
employees. Are they TMRS eligible?
A. If the work is normally and regularly spread
equally between the two positions, they would
not be eligible because their total hours would
be 800 each. However, if the work normally is
spread unevenly, and one of the positions
regularly receives more than 1,000 hours
annually, then that employee needs to be
enrolled in TMRS and the other would not be
enrolled.
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Determining TMRS Deductions
 Every city in TMRS elects the rate of member
contributions for the employees at 5, 6, or 7%*
 The employee contribution rate for your city is
the same for every employee
 Once your city has determined that an
employee is eligible for TMRS membership,
your city is required to deduct the employee
contribution from the employee’s gross
compensation for each payroll period
* A few cities were grandfathered at a 3% employee deposit rate, but that rate is
no longer an option.
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TMRS Definition of “Compensation”
 The TMRS Act defines “compensation” as:
 …the sum of payments made to an employee for
performance of personal services … (emphasis
added)
 The types of payments considered to be
“compensation” include:
 “… base pay, overtime, vacation, and sick leave
(including payments for unused vacation and sick
leave), longevity pay, certification pay, severance
pay, employer pickup of employee contributions to
TMRS, “cafeteria plan” benefits, and almost any
other form of payment made to an employee,
other than direct expense reimbursement”
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“Compensation,” cont.
 Remember, it is important to analyze all kinds
of compensation your employees receive.
Sometimes lesser-used forms of compensation
can get missed:
Longevity pay
Certification pay
Severance pay
“Cafeteria plan”
benefits
 Bonuses
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


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TMRS Deduction Example
If an employee is paid the following:
$1,600.00
$112.00
$80.00
$50.00
$20.00
$200.00
$1,138.00
Gross wages at $20/hr for 80 hours
TMRS deduction *
FICA/taxes
457 plan voluntary deduction
Life insurance deduction
Health insurance deduction
Net payment issued to employee
* Using a 7% employee deposit rate, the TMRS deduction is
based on the gross wages of $1,600, before all other
deductions are made ($1,600 x .07 = $112)
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Compensation Question
Q: Are clothing allowances, car allowances,
drag-down pay (unused vacation and sick
leave) considered compensation for TMRS
purposes?
A: Yes. All payments to the employee are
considered compensation except “direct
expense reimbursements”
RULE OF THUMB: If it’s taxable, it is “compensation”
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What about Worker’s Compensation?
W ho is paying the em ployee?
City only
W orker's Comp
Only
City
and
W orker's Comp
Em ployee
not getting paid
TM RS contribution
should be w ithheld
TM RS contribution
is m andatory; how ever
City has no control and
cannot force m br to contribute
TM RS contribution
should be w ithheld
based on total
No TM RS
contribution
allowed -no m onths of credit
Correction of Errors
 Errors relating to payroll, enrollment, and
compensation can be corrected
 Corrections can be made as far as four years
back
 Notify our Member
Services Department
at 800-924-8677
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Other Payroll Issues
 Keeping TMRS informed when key payroll
reporting personnel leave the city or change jobs
 City Portal Administrator keeping Authorized User
information up-to-date
 Calculating correctly
(double-checking the
math before sending)
Remember….
 TMRS encourages all cities to file their
monthly payroll electronically instead of by
mail. See the TMRS Electronic Payroll Guide
in the payroll packet for details:
 Electronic data submitted to TMRS via a
secure FTP website or the City Portal
 Payments submitted to TMRS via ACH
payments
For help filling out forms, view the Payroll Forms tutorial
on the TMRS website under Training
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Questions?
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